I'm Done With Current Material At Year End

Personally, if the USPS issued stamps like the Transcontinental Railroad type as the norm they would grab my interest. I do not think that I am alone. Let us face it, stamps are a utilitarian requirement for most people and what is on the piece of paper does not really matter.

I came back into being active in this hobby at the beginning of this year after a few years of low activity. I have always been a casual collector and every time I would get active the number of issues being put out by the USPS was overwhelming, and a waste of budget, frankly. So this time around I decided like many of you to just what I like, no matter what that may be. I also decided long ago to break the bounds of pre-printed albums, chose a standard format, and started doing my own album pages focused around the Scott Specialty 2 post binder. If I change my mind, so be it.

This year, I did buy a few new issues from USPS - the Transcontinental Railroad issue tickled my fancy, too. I even bought the box set with the so called "proofs", because I liked them. I also bought a few Canadian issues - those bears fascinated me - and a few British and Australian issues. I am driven by the beauty of a stamp issue and the subject matter. I like Scooby Doo, but I not to buy his stamp.

I also decided to expand my memberships beyond APS to access more journals and publications, leading me to want to learn more about topics involving classic US issues,. Joined this forum, which has been led me to look up even more information.

It may all seem unfocused a bit, but I enjoy the hobby and no longer feel the pressure to keep up with all the new issues. Instead I am just kicking back organizing what I like and learning new things to expand the interests I want.

The 2019 USPS Military Dogs issue booklet is so big it cannot be mounted as one piece in any album. It does not even fit in a Mint Sheet album. What were they thinking?

Personally I love the stamps that they are doing now because they are so much easier to ID for someone who doesn't have excellent eyesight. The early stamps are just to hard to ID. So many of them look the same unless you dissect every detail. When my grandkids look at my albums they look at the new ones.
If you don't want the newer ones send them to me.

I agree with many people here, gradually losing interest in the sticker stamps. I am struggling to find a cut-off date, when to stop my US collection.
I have a statehood collection that I will likely keep up with. And I buy panes here and there of what interests me, like the wild scenic rivers & transcontinental railroad ones.

I decided to end mine in 1846.

What Drew said!

Self-adhesives are something of a paradox. As a mailer I love them and as a collector I hate them. I believe they are generally popular with the public, a return to "lick and stick" would not be well received, and this is one genie that will never be put back in the bottle. As annoying as they are I'm not going to stop collecting stamps, countries, or topics I like just because of self-adhesives.

I purchase the U.S. mint commemorate set each year (now called the Stamp Yearbook with Collectible Stamp Packet). Except for se-tenant sheets individual stamps only are provided. This is probable not the least cost approach but mounts are included and one is not buying entire sheets. If I have to purchase an entire sheet or booklet at the Post Office I can cut out a single or singles to mount and use the rest for personal postage (yes I know, people don't postal mail as much anymore). Or, churches and other organizations still do some mailing to their members and I've donated stamps in lieu of a monetary contribution … where there is a will there is a way is my motto.

As for modern designs, I don't care much for the "pop-culture" themes (such as Dragons and Scooby-Doo), but "Honoring First Responders" (9/3/18), "Post Office Murals" (4/10/19), "State and County Fairs" (7/25/19), as well as the Transcontinental railroad issue fit in with the commemorative's issued from the 1930's onward.

My local post office (99330) is small, rural, and has a single Postmaster/Clerk, yet it carries all regular stamp issues so I'm uncertain why other post offices might not? One thing about them, because it is a small P.O. they don't receive a large quantity of each issue and if they sell out they don't reorder as new issues are always coming in. Periodically (each quarter I think?) they are supposed to return any stamps issued before a certain date (I'll have to ask how old next time I'm there), so I've learned to buy stamps I like sooner rather than later after the issue date.

I buy yearly USPS Yearbooks once they come out each year or every other
Year as the older ones often can be bought at a discount.

I stopped buying every stamp issued many years ago. Frankly a majority do not appeal to me so I pass on them. No big deal I buy what I like. Kids may like them but kids aren't buying them.

I do buy more Canadian new issues because I like them. I buy them directly from the Canada Post.